'Asylum controls fuel rise in racism'

The rise of the far Right is being fuelled by "racist" Labour voters who believe asylum seekers are "seducing their daughters", said government minister Margaret Hodge.

Children's Minister Mrs Hodge told a fringe meeting the party needed to confront the attitudes of its own supporters rather than pander to them through immigration clampdowns.

In a swipe at the Home Office, she warned that the Government would be responsible for growing racism if it focused simply on cutting the number of asylum seekers.

Mrs Hodge said that the British National Party's recent victory in a council by-election in her own east London constituency was a direct result of switches by Labour voters.

The Barking MP said that Labour had come "a long way behind" the BNP in the poll in part because government policy had "legitimised open intolerance of others".

"Today, in some parts of Britain, racism has become open and widespread. If we don't address that growing anger and racism among some of our traditional supporters we will fail to achieve equality and solidarity," she said.

She added that the difficulty in properly managing the issue "has legitimised open intolerance".

The growth of terrorism and religious extremism had also given "further legitimacy" to people coming out against minorities, she said.

Mrs Hodge called for an open debate on race and warned that simply claiming to be in control of asylum was a way to assuage racism. "Constituents say to me that asylum seekers are taking their houses, mugging their neighbours, seducing their daughters and bleeding the local public services."

She said Labour politicians should not be afraid of losing racist voters if they opposed an equal society.